Hunters and Sentinels
by Florin
Summary: After surviving a terrible car accident, Horst Kaider becomes an extremely powerful craft user. He joins STNJ as a replacement for Robin and Amon, but it seems that his goals are different from Solomon's. Who is he really working for? Also some SxD
1. Dead man walking

**A/N: Technically speaking, this is a crossover, as the characters I introduce here are based on the universe created by E. F. Russel. You don't need to be familiar with it, though. The events take place after the series. In the end of the final episode, the replacement hunter is seen wearing dress, but I decided to alter that moment and make him male.**

Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.

_Three hundred and twenty years have passed since the coven sank in the dark. Butterflies among the stars. Death becomes life. Sentinels. Those who can hear Universe are not bound by their shells._

**Munich, Germany. Six months ago.**

Maybe the reason for what happened had been Horst's careless driving. Maybe it was the rain that had soaked the asphalt, making it impossible to maneuver effectively. Or maybe it had been that stupid stray dog that had decided to cross the road right in front of his car. However, it's not the reason but consequences that matter - jerk of the steering wheel, complete loss of control and a giant tree approaching him at 60 mph.

It took him several seconds to understand what had just happened. The pain was almost gone by the time he regained consciousness - just a ghost of pain, and nothing else to feel. The world in his eyes was at the very strange angle, and someone could be heard screaming in the distance. A few seconds more, and he suddenly understood it all. That he was lying on the steering wheel, that it was his car's horn screaming. And that he was dying. There was nothing he could do about it, so he simply closed his eyes, allowing the darkness to swallow his mind. By the time an ambulance arrived, his heart had already stopped beating.

**Raven's Flat. Present time.**

"Lucky color, black."

A taxi stopped near the Raven's Flat to let out a european man wearing black trenchcoat. The guard eyed him warily as he approached, despite the horoscope promising a "wonderful meeting". He wasn't paid for trusting horoscopes, and the events of this year had taught him not to relax too much on the job.

"Good morning", the stranger greeted him. He had short black hair and blue eyes that seemed almost inhumanly bright. "I have an appointment with the director".

The guard didn't move, expecting the visitor to name himself. Must be the new hunter, he thought.

"Tell him the new hunter has arrived", the man said, seeing guard's hesitation.

Behind his desk, Sakaki was making himself busy by loading bullets into the clip, inspecting each one before inserting, more out of curiosity than for safety reasons. After the destruction of the Factory, STN-J was no longer capable of using Orbo, much to its members' elation. Its side effects turned out to be quite unpleasant, and none of the STN-J operatives would ever want to come anywhere near the creepy substance. As a substitution, Solomon had issued the "witch slaying" bullets once used to hunt Robin, and, as a result, their hunts became as lethal as they everywhere else in the world. Still, that was much more merciful than allowing some factory pukes to get their hands upon the poor things, Sakaki reminded himself, passing his finger over the rune. His thoughts were interrupted by someone's presence near his desk. Raising his eyes, Sakaki discovered Doujima's accusational stare.

"I've always known you're immature, but playing with your weapon like this..." She shook her head, but there was a mischievous smile hiding in the corners of her lips. It had always been there. After STN-J field team was reduced to just three of them, Doujima started acting much more determined... even responsible, it seemed. However, she still managed to keep that mischievous attitude, driving their director mad and getting away with it.

"I'm not playing!" Sakaki protested, pretending he wasn't enjoying their flirting at all. "I'm checking it to make sure it's going to work properly when my life depends on it."

She looked at him seriously, and both were silent for several seconds. The phone rang, and Hattori answered at once. Then, a burst of laughter Doujima was trying to suppress finally erupted.

"Yeah, right", she giggled, walking away, leaving Sakaki wondering why he was unable to be mad at her even when she did something like this. Probably because he liked her too much, he concluded with a sigh. He liked the way she managed to stay herself on this job, even though it was easier for her than for others. Sakaki shook his head and stood up to make himself some coffee.

He noticed Hattori explaining something to the boss. Doujima was within eavesdropping range, of course. This was one other paradox about her. Even though the man behind STN-J conspiracy, Takuma Zaizen, had been killed during the assault on the Factory, it was pretty obvious that Solomon Headquarters was going to keep an eye on them, just in case. Therefore, none of the hunters was under any illusions about Doujima's ultimate loyalty. Still, like everything else about her, the fact of her reporting to Solomon Headquarters was eventually forgiven - HQ's suspicions turned out to be quite reasonable, after all. Having received some instructions, Hattori headed towards the exit. Probably going to get some donuts, Sakaki assumed.

Taking a look at his watch, Michael decided to finish his walk in the park and get back to work. This short break had only brought sad thoughts into his mind anyway. This park somehow made him think of Robin and Amon, and how much he missed them. STN-J became his family, and he'd give anything to bring his friends back. Even his freedom. Not that he had much use for it anyway. When Director Kosaka had told him that he could leave if he chose so, Michael simply smirked and asked for a raise. Now, he didn't even have much time for breaks like these since he always had too much work to do. He was STN-J intelligence, team's eyes and ears, and lives of his friends often depended on information he had provided them with. Moving out of Raven's Flat was out of question as well, as Michael really hated just the thought of having to get up early in the morning to drag himself through the city towards the office. Therefore, little had changed in the life of Michael Lee overall.

All the more curious he was to see an unknown visitor at the entrance, talking to Hattori.

"Allow me to introduce Michael Lee, our computer expert," Hattori announced. "And this is our newly appointed hunter, Horst Kaider. He has just been transferred to us from Germany."

"Germany?" Michael asked, shaking guest's hand.

"Don't ask. Or, rather, ask the director of STN-G. Something made him think that I'd work more effectively in Japan."

"Your japanese is quite good," Michael observed in the elevator. That wasn't just a compliment - Kaider sounded even better than Robin, without any trace of accent.

"Thank you. I believe understanding can be quite a problem in our line of work even without language barrier."

Michael was still thinking about the meaning of this when the elevator finished its short trip. Then, they entered their base of operations, making everyone in the room stop their daily routine and look at the newcomer in surprise.

"Horst Kaider, welcome to STN-J!" Kosaka announced pompously.


	2. What are your powers?

**A/N: Sorry, but no Robin or Amon, at least in the beginning.**

Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.

As official introductions and a "welcome aboard" speech were being made by Kosaka, the newcomer behaved rather unusually. His gaze, straight and frightfully clear, moved from one person to another, inspecting every STN-J member for several seconds, looking into their eyes and making its target feel a little uncomfortable.

"I'm looking forward to working together from now on," he said politely when Kosaka had finished. "I hope my powers will make a valuable addition to your team."

"Let's just wait and see then," Kosaka concluded, clapping him on the shoulder patronizingly. "Now, the problem is, you'll be working with Doujima. Well, you just listen to whatever she says and do exactly opposite, and you'll be fine. Now, come on, let's get you a sidearm..."

"What does that mean?" Doujima hissed as Kosaka was dragging Kaider away.

"That means we can't afford another slacker here," Sakaki teased.

"Slacker!" Doujima reacted immediately. "I'm no slacker! I'm just... relaxed. That's right, nothing funny about it! You're just envious cause you have no idea how to relax..."

'Why can't I just ask her out?' Sakaki wondered, watching agitated Doujima telling him how boring he was, with Michael and Karasuma shaking their heads in the background. He suddenly felt that he was about to do something stupid, like allow himself to be dragged into that argument. Or kiss her right then. Or get into the argument and then kiss her. Or...

He turned abruptly and started walking away.

"Where are you going, I'm not finished yet!" Doujima was still steaming.

"Coffee," Sakaki explained compactly.

"O-Oh, bring me a cup too, cream and sugar! Please," her voice could make one think that she had already forgotten the speech she had been making few seconds earlier... and she probably had.

"Cause she's too good for you, you fool," he muttered to himself while filling two cups of coffee. "She's a princess and you're no knight."

"What are you muttering there?" asked Doujima.

"I'm saying I'm not your errand-boy," Sakaki complained, handing her a cup of coffee.

"Of course not, I'm the one who does errands for STN-J," she said almost proudly.

"Cause that's the only thing you can do well," Sakaki couldn't help teasing her again, but this one was probably over the line.

"I'll get you for this when I'm done with coffee," Doujima promised ominously.

**Solomon Headquarters**

A security guard at the gates had minimal clearance, which meant he couldn't even know the real name of the organization he was working for. That did not bother him at all, though. It was early morning, and the approaching car was among the first ones to arrive. The man behind the wheel was familiar to him. Always polite, friendly, thoughtful and a little awkward, probably a scientist or something like that. He couldn't recognize the lady in the backseat, though. She had shoulder-length auburn hair and bright blue eyes. He would've definitely remembered these eyes.

"Good morning Mr. Raymond", the guard greeted him as his BMW had stopped at the checkpoint. "Does the lady have a pass?"

"What lady?" Raymond asked him with a face so straight that he couldn't help a chuckle.

"All right. Have a nice day, Mr. Raymond."

It was all pretty obvious for the guard. Is there a better way to impress a girlfriend than to show her how top-secret and important your job is? This Raymond looked like a fair guy. Fair enough to buy him a beer in return for this little favor, hopefully. He looked a little more absent-minded than usual today, though.

"I'm not good with weapons," Kaider shook his head, looking at the Beretta M9 lying on the table in front of him.

"That's ok, we do not require perfect marksmanship from our personnel, and this is for your own protection," Kosaka tried to convince him.

"I'd rather rely upon craft for that," Kaider insisted.

"Well, that is just my recommendation," the director shrugged, putting the gun away. "Our policy is to let hunters choose whatever methods they consider efficient. It's the results that we demand. As for everything else, you'll probably find that it's nothing more than a supernatural police precinct."

"Anything else?"

"Er... no, you can get to work now," Kosaka said after thinking for several seconds. "I'm sure you can't wait to familiarize yourself with the guys. Ask Karasuma to show you your workplace and give you all the necessary materials."

As Mr. Raymond, who was in fact Dr. Raymond, parked his car and got out, he suddenly became aware that someone else had just got out from the backseat as well. Turning around rapidly, he saw a girl in her early twenties, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, inspecting the surroundings curiously.

"So, this is the place where the world-wide witch hunt is coordinated from," she said, ignoring the shocked look on the face of her unwilling driver. "Well, thanks for the ride. It's a pity your access level doesn't seem high enough for me."

Meanwhile, Raymond's shock was slowly turning into desperation as he had realized that he had somehow managed to bring an unauthorized person to the facility that didn't even exist officially.

"Wh-who are you!" he finally blurted out. "How did you..."

His voice suddenly died in his throat, and the girl's, on the contrary, gained strength.

"You don't know me. You haven't seen me until now," she said in the imperative tone. "Now go to work, as usual."

"...don't know... ...to work..." he muttered obediently, no sign of intelligence in his eyes.

"I wonder what his powers are," Sakaki said, observing Kaider as the latter was discussing something with Karasuma. "Must be pretty neat if they've sent him to replace both hunters we... lost."

"It's not that," Doujima shook her head and finished her coffee. She had already forgotten that she had been mad at him. "Solomon is short on people. It's not easy to find a craft user that would be eager to hunt those of his kind."

"It's not like that and you know it," Sakaki objected. "The hunted ones are not like the hunters."

"I know it, you know it, but hunters-to-be often see it this way."

Kaider moved towards his new workplace but Doujima intercepted him.

"So, what are your powers?"

"Sorry, that's a classified information," Kaider shook his head.

"Come on, we are partners now, right? That means we'll be working together, and I'm going to see your powers anyway."

"Probably," he shrugged, attempting to bypass her.

"So, why not tell me right away?" she kept blocking his way. "It would make our work easier, don't you think?"

"I told you already, it's classified," Kaider repeated, with a hint of irritation in his voice. Sakaki approached, not sure which side to take. Everyone turned their attention to the erupting confrontation.

"Well, if you don't want to talk about it, why don't you show it?" Doujima suggested. That made Kaider think for several seconds.

"So, you want a show?" he finally asked. Doujima nodded, smiling, but Sakaki didn't like the glint in the man's eyes.

"Doujima," he whispered in her ear, "I don't think you should..."

Suddenly, she turned to look right into his eyes, with a strange look on her face.

"Doujima!" Sakaki called out, suddenly worried.

"You can do it." Kaider quietly assured her, his eyes now resembling two perfect diamonds, glittering coldly.

Sakaki opened his mouth to ask what that meant, but Doujima's lips were suddenly upon his and her arms were embracing his neck.


	3. Penny for your thoughts

**Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.**

The nature of the new hunter's power itself didn't shock Sakaki all that much. He had witnessed enough manifestations of craft to be able to believe in existence of any kind of power one could possibly imagine, and making Doujima kiss him in front of entire STN-J wasn't all that unbelievable. It was the kiss itself that caught the young hunter completely off guard. It took him about two seconds to understand that he was actually enjoying it, and two more to figure out that it had become uncomfortably quiet in the room... unless you could count Michael's surprised whistle... and the gnashing of Kosaka's teeth, as it turned out that the director was there as well.

Eventually, Doujima became the first one to react to the situation.

"Oh my God! What am I doing!" She yelled, pulling away from the man she had been embracing just a moment ago. "And... what were YOU doing, Sakaki?"

"Wha... I haven't done anything!" Sakaki protested.

"Exactly!"

"But what was I supposed to..." He suddenly discovered that the situation wasn't that easy to explain. Even to himself. "I didn't... I mean, I couldn't... I mean, you've jumped me like..."

"What the hell is going on here!" Kosaka's voice boomed, and, for the first time, Sakaki was really glad to hear it.

"Just showing my powers to my partner," Kaider explained calmly.

"Very well," Kosaka said, obviously deciding not to spoil the newcomer's first day by yelling at him. "But please, try to restrain yourself from turning this place into more of a circus than it already is."

With that, Kosaka retreated, muttering about Doujima (no doubt, it's all her fault) already spoiling the newcomer.

"Actually, I also have some other abilities," Kaider noticed, unimpressed by the warning. "Are you willing to see more demonstrations?"

Doujima startled.

"Never thought I'd ever say this but I'm afraid I agree with the director," she said quickly. Then she went to her desk, not looking at Sakaki... or anyone else.

Michael came to Sakaki, who was still standing there with a clueless look on his face, and touched his elbow to attract attention.

"Did she use her tongue?"

Doujima looked up from her desk. She couldn't hear what Michael was saying, but Sakaki's "none of your business" yell could be heard quite clearly. No doubt Michael asked something kinky. She tried to concentrate once again on the files on her desk, but couldn't stop thinking of how cute Sakaki was when he blushed and that she should've kept kissing him just a little bit longer.

The only way to enter the three-storied building was to go through the main lounge and past the retinal scanner, supervised by two guards who knew a little more than the one at the gates about what they were guarding. One of them was watching Raymond walk up to the scanner without the usual morning greeting, or any other sort of reaction to the outside world at all.

"You ok, sir?" He asked just in case.

"Huh?" The scientist snapped to reality, then scratched his head. "Err... yeah, I guess... Just... going to work..."

'Hmm... Was it something out there that shocked him,' the guard wondered. He walked to the entrance door, which was made entirely from glass. Outside, he saw a young woman, who was just standing there with a thoughtful face. He opened the door and leaned out.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

"Oh, I'm just looking for my car. Forgot where I have left it," she said guiltily.

"Oh, I see."

He returned inside and entered the booth where his partner was having his breakfast.

"Replace me at the scanner for five minutes, ok?"

"Can it wait till I finish breakfast?"

"Look, there's a gal out there who can't find her car," the first guard said, giving his friend a wink. "I'm sure she needs help."

"Peters, wait," his partner called out as the first guard was already heading to the glass doors. "Why is she looking for her car, the workday is only beginning?"

That caused Peters to slow down a little.

"Night shift?" He suggested.

"Then you would've seen her leave the building before, you idiot!"

"Well, why guess if I can ask her... what the!"

First of all, Peters thought it was something wrong with the glass, steamed up or something... He rushed to the doors and opened them, then ran outside. The facility had been totally surrounded by heavy, sticky fog, which blocked out the sunlight completely and prevented him from seen anything further than several yards away.

"Miss? Are you there?"

Then, in the middle of this almost palpable substance he saw a shadowy figure take off and soar upward. That made him blink several times, until he heard another guard's voice from behind.

"Damn, never seen such mist in my life! And I don't recall the forecast mentioning that either... You ok, man?"

"Probably seeing things," Peters shook his head and hurried back inside before getting all wet in this fog.

"This is our Master, his coffee is the best in entire Japan," Doujima introduced cheerfully. "Master, this is Horst Kaider, my new partner."

"Ah, the replacement," Master nodded. He did not bow or shake hands, as he was busy serving their lunch. "I'm always glad to see a new face here. Where are you from?"

"I'm from Germany. And I must say that if this tastes as good as it looks and smells, you'll be seeing me quite often here," Kaider promised.

"I'm paying for this one," Doujima said as Master retired. "First meal must be free on the new place."

"Oh, thank you. Looks like you're not mad at me for showing off earlier today?"

"Well, I was at first, but no longer," she smiled. "I asked for it myself, after all. But tell me, how difficult is it to make one do something like this?"

"It was even easier than I expected in your case. Probably because you were actually willing to do what you did."

Doujima almost choked on the food upon hearing that.

"Guess I'd better change subject if I want you to live through this lunch," Kaider noticed anxiously.

"You have a power to control people's minds," Doujima became serious. "No wonder Solomon forbids you to talk about it."

"It has its limits, in fact. For example, I cannot overpower primal instincts, like survival. Therefore, I cannot order a person to die."

They ate in silence for a while.

"I hope you're a good driver," Kaider said suddenly.

"What? Oh, I forgot you don't have a car yet. So, like it or not, you'll have to rely on me to drive you around." She giggled. "By the way, has the boss told you already where you're going to stay?

"I believed he's said something about Amon's apartment."

"Good. I know the place. I'll drive you there in the evening."

"Thanks. I definitely like it here."

The girl landed on the rooftop, where the mist was a little thinner, and approached the door leading inside. It was protected by a usual mechanical lock - no one expected the intruders to come this way. She stood near the door for several seconds with a concentrated look on her face until the lock clicked open. It took her several minutes to navigate the attic, and no one paid her any attention when she had emerged in a well-lit corridor with multiple doors on both sides. She took one direction at random and walked, pretending to be familiar with the place. Right now, she needed more information to proceed, and so she concentrated on listening to people's words. And, more importantly, to people's thoughts.

'...fire me? Ha, I'm too valuable for...'

'...when will they ever learn to make something resembling decent coffee here...'

'...is a cutie. Isn't that our chief's daughter? Or, hmm...'

'...and then he told me that the guys downstairs are going to be really grateful! I mean, didn't even mention raise or something! Grateful, my a...'

'...look at all that fog. I hope they aren't testing some bioweapons here...'

'...Rob told me that the main part of the facility is actually underground. I wonder what those guys are doing down there, must be pretty serious stuff...'

Bingo, she thought. Next was a security guard hanging around with nothing to do.

'Why is she looking at me like that? Ooh, I think she is into me!'

You're not my type, she thought, but I'm quite into the building scheme you have fresh in your mind.

She reached the stairs at the end of the corridor, descended to the ground floor and, after several twists and turns, stopped in the elevator-filled lobby, equipped with turnstiles, metal detectors and armed, though polite, guards.

She made a show of clapping herself on her jeans' pockets, then turned around rapidly and started walking away.

Due to time of the day, people were mostly heading in the opposite direction, and she was inspecting everyone she passed.

'Hmm, lets see... not you, you neither, not... great, you'll do,' she concluded, and a magnetic keycard "accidentally" slipped out of the unlucky victim's pocket right into her hand. Making sure no one was around to notice her little trick, the intruder once again headed towards the elevators. She passed the man that was perplexedly checking his pockets and inserted the card into the turnslip's slot. Guard's monitor immediately showed the photo of the card's actual owner, but the man who was supposed to make sure that the picture had matched reality had spilled his coffee all over himself half a second ago and failed to pay attention to anything but his own pants.

Next, the metal detector. Reaching into her jeans' pocket, she showed a whistle-shaped "flash" data storage device to another guard, passing through without much trouble. Then, a long ride in the elevator, and there it was - a huge maze of corridors, numerous doors and some very busy people scurrying about, rarely giving a second look to the casually-dressed girl.

It took her about half an hour to find the right person - a thin, bearded man with disheveled hair, wearing glasses.

"Excuse me," she addressed him. "All of a sudden I have forgotten the administrator's password."

"Err... Do I know you?" The bearded man she was talking to absolutely didn't have the intention to give her the password, but it had appeared in his mind when mentioned regardless.

"Oh, I remembered! 'Eminence', right? Well, thanks a lot," she smiled reassuringly and moved off. System administrator thought of it a little, then dismissed it. Whoever she was, she knew the password, and that meant she had been cleared for it, right?

A guy in the monitoring room winced as the signal from one of the security cameras turned to static and pressed a button to summon a repairman. There were only eight screens cycling through the images from over forty cameras, and he couldn't yet know that another three cameras in the same area went offline as well.

It took her only five minutes to find an unused terminal in an empty room, log in using the password learned earlier, and copy the entire content of 'STN-J' directory to her flash device. The surprise came the moment she had detached the data-filled flash from the terminal. Obviously, there had been some sort of virtual booby-trap to protect the secret information from unauthorized copying, and now the siren was wailing, the door of the room she was in locked itself and numerous security personnel was vectored her way. The girl did nothing, just cursed briefly and closed her eyes. She stayed frozen even when the sounds of numerous heavy footsteps could be heard. And then...

In the maintenance room fifty yards away, a knife-switch shifted itself into the "off" position, immediately cutting off power to both lights and door locks. By the time the guards took out their flashlights and got their bearings, the room was already empty.

The escape part turned out to be a breeze. A monitor at the turnstiles once again showed a face not quite matching her own, but the guard had been busy arguing with the card's actual owner and hadn't even required additional distractions. She made her way back to the rooftop, which was still immersed in the fog, and jumped down, slowing her fall at the last possible moment. Then she proceeded to the high voltage fence surrounding the complex, jumped over it swiftly and headed towards the road.

"Pull over, Vincent," Juliano asked his driver, noticing a girl waving down on the side of the road.

"Thanks a lot, Father," she said, getting into the limo. "I thought I'd never find a way out of this fog."

"What's a lady like you doing in the middle of nowhere?" Juliano asked as the car started moving.

"Oh, I live in a village not far from here. Now trying to hitchhike it to the airport."

"Airport?"

"Yeah, I'm going to Japan today."

"You sure travel light..."

"All my things are in the airport storage."

"I see. I've been to Japan myself several times. Vincent, let's get the lady to the airport."

"Oh, you're so kind, Father..."

"Colegui. Juliano Colegui."

"And I'm Karina Weber. Pleased to meet you."

"So, anyone expecting you in Japan, Miss Weber?"

"One... friend of mine has recently moved there. He doesn't know I'm coming, though."


	4. In a heartbeat

**Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.**

"Raizo Itagake, 42 years old. A brilliant, or, should I say, extraordinary cardiologist, capable of making an unmistakable diagnosis just by listening to the patient's heart using nothing but his own ears, without any kind of medical equipment. His healing skills are just as good - his colleagues say he could instinctively 'feel' the heart and find a way to cure it. And now we have a reason to believe that our good doctor has gained a reversed ability as well - his wife, and then a police officer investigating her death died yesterday because of the sudden heart attacks. His last location is somewhere in this area," Michael concluded, putting a city map on the screen.

"Now, listen everyone," Karasuma stood up. "This man is capable of killing you on the spot, he is extremely dangerous. If you see him, shoot him at once."

And then, two cars were racing north from Raven's Flat with four hunters inside, and three of them were quite nervous.

"Heart attack," Doujima whispered, keeping her eyes on the Karasuma's car ahead of them. "Orbo suddenly doesn't sound so bad now. I mean, I know this stuff is quite bad for your health, but this guy... he can just make your heart stop, and you'll die!"

"Death isn't that bad if you don't suffer much," Kaider commented casually, as if discussing a headache.

"Are you trying to creep me out!" Doujima almost yelled.

Having arrived to the destination, they got out of their cars. Karasuma, Sakaki and Doujima drew their guns immediately, and Kaider just stood there with his hands in pockets and a concentrated look on his face.

"You should've taken a gun on this one," Karasuma reproached him.

"That won't be necessary."

She looked around the place, trying to come up with a plan that would keep her entire team alive. So, Kaider was stupid enough to reject a pistol and Doujima's shooting was worse than Sakaki's.

"Sakaki, you check that alley over there. Doujima, cover him. I'll take the other one. Kaider, you cover me."

Half a minute later Karasuma discovered that Kaider was trying to get in front of her.

"When I say cover me that means you follow behind," she hissed.

"I don't think its a..."

"Learn to stick to the plan, damn it! You don't even have a weapon, and I'm going ahead."

"You're going to regret it," she heard him mutter from behind. Great, she thought. A newbie that doesn't know what a teamwork is. She was too irritated to understand that it had been a warning, not a threat.

What STN-J couldn't have taken into account was the fact that Dr. Itagake's ability to hear human's heart heightened significantly when his power had fully awakened. And now, he could clearly hear a heartbeat... no, two heartbeats approaching slowly. The fact that they were keeping some distance between each other would only make things easier, as he was unable to control two hearts simultaneously. Catching the first one off guard was an easy task, since no matter how cautious she'd been, she hadn't even known he was there and therefore was no match for someone that knew her position exactly all the time. He could even hear how nervous she was, her heart beating fast and heavy. It started beating even faster when she saw him, and it was too late for her to do anything. Her gun fell out of her hands, she clutched her chest, moaning in pain, and slumped to the ground while the thumping of her heart was getting slower with every second. It had stopped completely by the time her companion arrived. This one, strangely, didn't have a weapon and didn't seem too affected by the woman's demise.

"You shouldn't have done that," the european man said, wincing distastefully.

Whether it was his tone or his posture, Itagake suddenly felt that this man was even more dangerous than the girl, and once again Raizo ordered a human heart to stop beating. The man bent in half without making a sound, and kept standing like that as his heart started losing its rhythm.

"There is no use fighting it," Itagake lectured softly, standing above the condemned man. "You cannot live with a stopped heart."

"Why?" the man hissed through clenched teeth. "I've pulled it off once."

And he unbent rapidly, like a spring, using this movement to add more power to the uppercut that landed perfectly on its unsuspecting victim's jaw, sending Itakage several meters backwards.

Itakage regained consciousness several seconds later, and saw the one who wasn't supposed to survive talking into his earpiece, telling the others to come his way.

"Impossible!" Itakage snarled, spitting blood. "No one can survive my wrath!"

He reached for the pistol lying on the ground and aimed it as thoroughly as his fury allowed him. The hunter didn't try to stop him or run for cover, which made it even simpler. Itakage attempted to pull the trigger... but failed to move it even a millimeter. The Beretta he held in his hand was perfectly fine, but his finger refused to obey. A smart man would've surrendered or tried something else at this point, but Itakage was too enraged to even consider doing anything but pressing the trigger. When the other two hunters stormed in with their guns ready, they didn't hesitate to open fire, as the picture they've witnessed hadn't been a pleasant one...

"Karasuma!" Sakaki and Doujima cried out at the same time, rushing towards the very pale woman on the ground.

"I tried to keep her behind," Kaider explained. "But she didn't listen."

Sakaki was attempting to find any life signs, like pulse or breathing, and Doujima was telling Michael to call an ambulance. They were both desperate and in panic, and neither noticed how Kaider had touched Karasuma's lifeless hand gently. They did notice, though, that Karasuma suddenly jerked and inhaled loudly, and her skin color slowly started returning back to normal. Then, her lips started moving.

"Karasuma... what are you saying? I can't hear you..." Doujima said anxiously, bringing her ear near Karasuma's mouth. "Butterfly? What butterfly? Look, just calm down, ok? You're in shock, obviously."

"What... happened?" Karasuma asked in a louder, but still weak, voice.

"We'd like to know that too," Sakaki agreed, and everyone looked at Kaider.

"I hypnotized him to think that he no longer had his power, so he tried to get me with a more conventional method," Kaider shrugged. "Then I kept holding him until you guys arrived."

"Well, I won't pretend that I understand this mind control business," Sakaki admitted, helping Karasuma up, "but it looks like you've saved us all today, man. Good job."


	5. with shining eyes

**Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.**

Despite still being a little pale, Karasuma rejected hospitalization harshly. Medics had found no obvious danger to her life, but tried to insist on Karasuma going through the full check, then, seeing her stubbornness, recommended her to do nothing but rest for several days. Karasuma, however, had already figured that a cup of coffee at Harry's... well, tea this time, was all the recovery she needed.

"Ms. Karasuma," Master greeted her. "Mr. Kaider has been telling me about a terrible thing that happened to you today. I'll give you some of my very special tea. Good for your heart."

"My heart is ok," Karasuma protested, clasping her hand to her chest mechanically.

"And I wonder why..." She added thoughtfully, turning to look at the german.

"I stopped him before he could finish the job," he shrugged. "Guess he only slowed down your heart, and you were able to recover on your own later. That would be the most logical explanation."

"It stopped completely," Karasuma said, taking a sip of the tea that Master had just brought her. "I could feel it."

"You weren't in position to feel pretty much anything, don't you think?" Kaider noticed ironically.

"Yet I did," she repeated stubbornly. "I knew exactly when it stopped. I was in the darkness, in the middle of nowhere, for an impossibly long time."

She was silent for about a minute, just sipping her tea and looking at the counter. Master was nowhere in sight, as if he could read people's minds to tell when he was needed and when he was not.

"And then I saw it," she said quietly.

"What?"

"A butterfly... with shiny eyes. It reached out to my heart, and my heart came to life."

"And Doujima calls _me_ creepy..."

"It was you, wasn't it," she questioned, looking straight into his shining eyes.

"I find it a little insulting to be associated with an insect," Kaider smiled. "Even if it was only in your hallucinating mind."

"All right," Karasuma conceded. "Even if I'm wrong and you're right - you've still saved my life."

"It's nothing, just... trust me a little more next time we work together, will you?"

"Right. It was my fault really," she sighed and tried to lighten up the mood. "I'll buy you a drink, as an apologize."

"That's not necessary," Kaider chuckled. "But there is a favor you could do me."

"Whatever," Karasuma nodded readily.

"Tell me about those I've replaced. Tell me about Amon and Robin."

"I don't like his story," Doujima complained. "Something doesn't feel right about it."

"Well, the witch is pretty much dead now and Karasuma had been out for the most part of the action, so we only know what Kaider told us," Sakaki reasoned. He couldn't understand why Doujima was worried about her partner. The job was done and everyone stayed alive, after all.

"And his power is scary," Doujima went on, not listening to Sakaki. "No surprise he's been told to keep it secret.

"What was it like?" Sakaki asked, surprising even himself with the question.

"You mean the kiss?" Doujima specified, not looking into his eyes.

"No, not that," he said quickly, blushing at once. "Being under his control."

"Oh. I didn't feel like that at all. Actually, I was absolutely sure that I was acting on my own accord."

"Right," he waved it off. "As if you would ever kiss me on your own accord."

"Of course I'd never kiss a bore like you on my own accord.", Doujima laughed and headed to her desk.

"Doujima," Michael called her as she was walking past him. "I couldn't hear what you two were talking about... Why did you have your fingers crossed behind your back right now?"

And once again, Michael Lee was told that it was none of his business.

"Anyway, they're probably both dead by now," Karasuma finished her story.

"But you don't actually believe that," that was a statement and not a question.

"I don't know," she said, contemplating this for several seconds. "Maybe I'm just deceiving myself. Doujima is probably being most objective on the matter."

"She is saying they couldn't have survived, but she is doing so only to conceal her own doubts."

"How can you know that?" Karasuma asked in surprise.

"Let's say I'm pretty good at reading between the lines..." Kaider grinned.

Karasuma checked her watch.

"Well, it's time to get back to work. You coming?"

"You go ahead. I need to think."

"About what?"

"About whether I'm doing the right thing here," he said thoughtfully.

"Oh, come on!" Karasuma said distrustfully. "It seems you're a good hunter, and you've saved the day earlier. Why the doubts?"

"It's not my abilities but my goals that require consideration," Kaider explained. "Don't worry, I'll make the right decision."

Upon arrival to Raven's Flat, Karasuma noticed Doujima looking over Michael's shoulder.

"No relatives with any signs of craft. Nothing at all..." Michael commented, his fingers flying all over the keyboard.

Karasuma came close to take a look at the screen.

"Doujima!" she said, exasperated. "Don't you think it's a little unethical to spy on your partner like that, even more so by talking Michael into doing that for you?"

"Oh but I have the right to know who I'm working with, right?" Doujima reasoned. "And this guy is giving me creeps, so if I had to choose between rules and curiosity..."

"Hey, that's my excuse!" Michael protested. "Get your own!"

Karasuma was about to tell them both to quit it, but Michael got excited all of a sudden.

"Look at this - he got into a car accident back in Germany six months ago. This one was real bad. Cardiac arrest, reanimation... It was quite a miracle that he managed to stay alive, according to the medical records. Headquarters believe it had been this accident that caused his power to awaken. They had his co-workers interviewed, and all of them claim Kaider had changed significantly."

"I've never heard of such things happening before," Karasuma said, puzzled.

"Let's check out the hospital server, maybe we can find a clue there... Hmm, this is getting interesting. His parents died five years ago, and he has no close relatives at all. Except for a couple of his co-workers, only one person visited him in the hospital. Right now, all I have is the name. Karina Weber."

"A girlfriend?" Doujima asked curiously.

"Could be his girlfriend. Could be his childhood friend. Could be his parents' friend..." Michael began losing interest now. "It's too hard to tell from the name, you know, and I don't see any reasons for digging deeper than that."

"Good point," Karasuma agreed, happy to see some common sense finally breaking out. "Checking out his private life is a little too much."

"The lights are on. Looks like you've forgotten to turn them off this morning," Doujima noticed, pulling over near Kaider's apartment.

"No, I haven't," Kaider shook his head thoughtfully.

"But I thought you live alone."

"So did I... It looks like I have a visitor now, though."

"Oh," she worried. "Want me to go in there with you? Or call the police?"

"That won't be necessary," Kaider smiled. "I know who the visitor is. "

"Well... I guess it's ok, then," she said hesitatingly. "Want me to pick you up in the morning?"

"Judging from what I've heard from Mr. Kosaka, the time of day you call morning is hardly suitable for me. Anyway, I was going to take a walk. The park nearby is a lovely place, especially when it's too early for anyone else to be there."

As Kaider got out of the car and went inside, Doujima looked at the window of his apartments once again and saw a female figure in there. That's strange, she thought, driving towards her place now. Is it possible to get a girlfriend on the second day of being in the country? Or has he brought someone along with him? But he said he hadn't expected anyone...

Doujima pulled over, even though her apartment was still a couple of blocks away. Despite being called slacker quite often, she had learned a lot from being both a Solomon agent and a hunter. And now, her instincts were telling her that something was wrong here. Kaider's reluctance to describe his powers, his behavior during the hunt, this mysterious visitor... He was hiding something from STN-J and even herself, his partner. Well, the one who doesn't trust doesn't deserve trust, she said to herself, picking up her cell phone and dialing the number that wasn't even in her address book.


	6. For your minds only

She was there, waiting for him, with a warm smile and happiness in her eyes. Kaider, on the contrary, remained emotionless.

'You weren't supposed to come here.'

'I wanted to see what you were up to. Besides, I was getting lonely,' she added guiltily.

'All right, I missed you too, if it makes you feel better,' he softened. 'I just wanted you to stay there as a messenger. It's hard to establish a connection from a big city like this.'

The entire conversation was made without either of them making a single sound, for both of them found exchanging thoughts more convenient than spoken words.

'Anyway, I thought you might want to see this yourself,' Karina reported, giving him the Flash.

'How did it go?' he asked, unpacking his laptop.

'Much more exciting than I'd like it,' she admitted. 'Next time, you go and play James Bond yourself. These games are for men. For the stupid ones.'

'Well, I can't say I've done anything stupid till now. Things have been boring and uneventful since my arrival.'

'Have they? The lady that drove you here didn't think so.'

'Oh, you mean that little incident. Just did the job and helped a teammate.'

'Not that simple, I can see it in your mind now. The woman was dying... Now she knows you're the one who saved her, doesn't she?'

'She isn't sure, and there's no way she could possibly come near the truth anyway.'

'Still, you shouldn't have intervened.'

'And let her die? Maybe it would've been better,' he shrugged, plugging the Flash into the computer, 'but she had friends there, and, you know, and they cared a lot about her. They would've suffered, and I don't like making people suffer like that.'

'Look, I just don't think you should've come here in the first place,' Karina sighed, watching her companion as he turned on the power. 'You've gone too far with this hunter business.'

'I'll go as far as necessary for our mission.'

'Our mission is to watch, not to intervene - with one exception, of course.'

'Our mission is also to report anything important, and I need to get inside in order to understand what exactly I have to report.'

Kaider launched the program that checked the data for possible snares, like those capable of destroying valuable information as a result of unauthorized access attempt.

'Are you sure it's worth it, Horst?' Karina asked, standing behind him. 'Are you sure this isn't your adventurous nature speaking?'

'We'll see that soon enough. Why are you asking?'

'You might spook them if you keep going like that. If that happens, they will attempt to take you out.'

'Even if they succeed,' he turned to look at her. 'Does that bother you?'

'Of course not.'

'Now, let's see...' Kaider finally started going through the data stolen from Solomon Headquarters. 'Hmm, what's this... Project Robin?'

'One more thing,' she reported as Kaider was reading the information on the screen. 'I've met quite an important person there, Juliano Colegui. His mind was surprisingly calm, but I managed to catch a thought regarding your transfer to STN-J. He's a little suspicious about it...'

**STN-G station. Two weeks ago.**

Director Siegfried wasn't surprised to find the building uninhabited, as he was already used to the fact that the others called night what he called morning. He looked at his office door and winced, as a thin stripe of light could be seen under it, which probably meant that he had left the lights on last night. Opening the door in irritation, he discovered it was not the case, though. Kaider was sitting behind the director's desk, doing something on a computer he wasn't supposed to have access to and looking something up in the papers at the same time. In fact, he was so busy that he only gave his boss a short nod as a greeting. Which, naturally, was far from satisfying for Siegfried, who was now blinking rapidly, expecting to wake up from this crazy dream any moment.

"Mr. Kaider," he finally managed to say, only to be interrupted by Kaider, who was now acting like he was the one in charge here.

"Shush. You've got some really interesting data here, you know," he said, looking through the papers thoughtfully. "Some of it couldn't even be found in your own mind."

That remark made Siegfried flinch somewhat. Kaider had been introduced to the STN-G team as a powerful telepath, who didn't even bother to restrain his mind-reading ability when among the teammates. There was no official way to forbid him reading others minds, and, as a result, the entire personnel simply started avoiding the man, which didn't seem to bother him at all.

"You're correct here," Kaider nodded approvingly. "I've been just fine here with no one to get in the way. But it probably won't work so well when I need to get some information from the people, so I'll probably conceal this little talent of mine on the new place."

"New place? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I haven't told you... You've got some info here regarding every other Solomon division in the world. The Japanese one turned out to be especially interesting. The events that took place there less than a month ago seem significant enough to require my presence."

"What does that all mean?" Siegfried almost yelled, the face of this usually calm man now red with anger.

"It means that I need you to recommend me for a permanent transfer to STN-J as soon as possible. Don't worry, I've already learned the language."

"I... I... n-n-never... Get out!" Siegfried shouted with the bloodshot eyes, walking slowly to the impudent fellow.

"You don't like the idea?" Kaider asked innocently. "I'm afraid I've already sent the e-mail from your computer to inform the Headquarters of your far-sighted decision."

"That's it," Siegfried reached Kaider's collar with his hands, but recoiled at once, as if stopped by some invisible force. The only thing he could see were his subordinate's glowing eyes, which now became larger than the universe itself.

"And now, you will call them to confirm your request, and then, you'll forget everything that happened until this moment," Kaider ordered, and his boss started dialing the number on the phone. Siegfried didn't hear Kaider's retreating footsteps or the sound of the office door closing.

**Present time.**

The park was a very lonely place at four in the morning, which was exactly what Kaider needed. He could still hear the thoughts of people in the buildings surrounding the park, most of them dreams, but it was easier to shut them out here. He sat down on the bench, relaxed his body and closed his eyes, allowing himself to hear numerous reports coming from beings similar to himself, capable of using their minds as a transceiver with a truly unlimited range. Then, he concentrated to transmit a message of his own. Powered by his mind, it was directed to those who were responsible for making decisions based on the information gathered by watchers.

'...special abilities caused by natural genetic anomalies. Although the existence of such anomalies has been reported for several centuries, their magnitude is increasing rapidly, and at least one experiment of artifically engineering special powers has proved successful. Further investigation required in order to estimate the scale and possible consequences of the phenomenon.'

He then kept sitting there, watching the sunrise and listening to the transmissions, until the answer finally came.

'Approved. Proceed with caution.'


	7. Chameleon

**Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.**

Kosaka stared in shock at the sight of Doujima, wearing a shabby coat, striding in without being even a little bit late (even earlier than Kaider), and everyone else stood with their mouths open as well.

"Well, we're all happy to witness such a manifestation of self-discipline," Karasuma announced, still not quite believing her eyes.

"Err... right. Thank you," Doujima said quietly, looking perplexed by all the attention she'd gotten. She's acting strange, Sakaki thought. Is it possible that she's playing some kind of joke on them? Speaking of jokes...

"Hey, Doujima, it's your turn to make me some coffee you know," he teased. "No sugar, as usual."

"All right," Doujima nodded docilely and headed to the "coffee corner". This got Kosaka so distracted that he missed the door to his office, bumping into the doorpost instead. Hattori's lamentations and director's curses followed. Kaider entered couple of minutes later, and Sakaki suddenly believed he had it all figured out now.

"You bastard!" He yelled instead of greeting. "What have you done to Doujima?!"

"Something wrong with her?" Kaider wondered.

"Well, apart from her BEING here at this time... yes! She's not herself! Just look at what she's doing," and Sakaki pointed to Doujima, who had been just walking up to them with a cup of coffee.

"Here it is," she nearly whispered, offering Sakaki the cup, the turning to Kaider. "You want some coffee too?"

Kaider then did something hardly expected from a man who was offered a cup of coffee. Swiftly and without a warning, he hit his female partner in the chin with his fist, making the coffee and Doujima herself drop on the floor. Everyone gasped and Hattori dashed into the director's office.

Sakaki reacted to the event by pulling out his gun and training it at Kaider, his hands shaking from fury. The bastard has hurt Doujima! Doesn't he deserve death here and now? The outrage got Kaider worried, and it took him several attempts to be heard by a hunter with a clouded mind.

"Look at her. Look at her, Sakaki! Look at her!"

Sakaki finally turned his head to look at Doujima and shivered in disgust. Her chin was deformed horribly in the place where it caught the punch, and her face now looked like a damaged wax doll, without a single drop of blood on it.

"It's not Doujima," Kaider said. "It's a witch."

And then he made a mistake. Concentrating on the thoughts of Sakaki, who seemed to be more of a threat, with his gun still pointed at Kaider, he failed to read the intentions of the witch lying on the floor until she pulled out her gun, bulky Desert Eagle, and switched off the safety. It was now too late to attempt to take the imposter's mind under control, as it required precious seconds he didn't have. He was still ahead of her, though, as he knew the intended target before the gun was raised. He jumped at Michael, who was now standing near them, and dropped him to the floor as the bullet flew right above them, and then another one. And then Sakaki opened fire, and he couldn't miss from such distance.

The witch dropped her gun right after being hit for the first time, but Sakaki didn't stop. He kept pressing the trigger repeatedly, his face once again distorted by anger. Probably for the first time in his life, Haruto Sakaki was actually willing to kill, and he did, emptying the entire clip into the now lifeless body lying in front of him. He came to his senses only when Karasuma's hand touched his, realizing that he was still attempting to shoot from the empty gun, breathing heavily.

Kosaka, who came running out of his office upon hearing gunshots, ordered Hattori to call the police, then turned to look at the mess and gasped at the sight. The face of the dead witch was melting slowly, losing its shape like a heated wax, changing to something completely different. Lying in the widening pool of blood was a woman of about double Doujima's age, with a face that hardly had anything in common with what it had previously been.

Finally, the standard super-natural crime scene procedure started rolling. Things were complicated now, as with the demise of the Factory, the crime scene investigation part had been divided between the police and STN-J, at the discretion of the latter. So, Karasuma immediately put the gloves on and went to check the woman's pockets and Michael fired up his computer to find any information regarding similar cases.

Sakaki just stood there, looking into emptiness, trying to understand what had caused such an outburst just a few minutes ago. It wasn't the fact that a single witch was capable of infiltrating their stronghold so easily, and not even the fact that she was trying to kill them - it was all part of the job after all. But the mere fact that someone could impersonate Doujima... that someone could fake her face... her beauty...

"You'd better put that away until you regain some self-control, you know," Kaider quietly advised, pointing to the gun.

"How did you know she wasn't real thing anyway?" Sakaki asked, holstering his weapon.

"You've told me she wasn't herself, remember?" Kaider pointed out. "You thought this was my job, but it wasn't, so that raised my suspicion."

"Suspicion? You don't hit people in the face just because of suspicions! Come on, what's the real reason?"

"You really want to know?" He winked and tapped himself on the forehead. "I read her thoughts."

"Don't joke it off..."

"Guys, look at this," Karasuma interrupted. She showed them a card she had just found, with a company name, address and telephone printed on it.

"Can't be," Sakaki whispered.

"What? You know the firm?" Kaider asked.

"We even know the owner," Karasuma said. "Syunji Nagira."

"I told the guard to let the police in when they arrive," Hattori informed his boss, putting down the phone.

"How do we explain it to them?" Kaider wondered.

"We don't," Michael explained. "It's the same division that always works on our crime scenes. They'll just clean it up, won't even ask questions. Very convenient."

"Found anything on the witch?" Karasuma asked.

"Yes, I think I know what it was," Michael reported. "Since she was stupid enough to bring her ID, I've managed to discover some interesting medical records here. It's about her face - there are no bones at all in it, only cartilages. Theoretically, that allowed her to twist them any way she wanted. Couldn't alter her voice, though, so she had to speak quietly."

"Solomon knew about it?"

"They christened her Chameleon," he nodded. "Attempted to keep her under control, but underestimated her. She escaped easily, changing faces like gloves."

The cops arrived, and all STN-J members had to leave the building to let them get to work.

"Don't let them near the computers or papers," Kosaka had instructed their guard, who was left behind to watch over the procedure.

"How long?" Michael asked with a sour look on his face.

"Just long enough to clean it up," Kosaka assured him. "They've whined a little about the procedure but I told them I'd be taking responsibility."

"It's been a while since you all gathered here like that," Master welcomed them. "Anything happened?"

"We've been attacked," Karasuma informed him. "Michael, show him."

"Have you seen this woman here lately?" Michael asked, showing the picture he printed before leaving Raven's Flat.

"Why, she's been around since last week," Master nodded after taking a look. "Tried to ask some questions about you guys and your place, but I played it dumb, of course."

"Well she's just attempted to kill me," Michael reported nervously. He wasn't a hunter, and facing immediate danger is something one can't easily get used to.

"She's been lurking around, checking us out, all this time," Karasuma summed up, ignoring Master's predictable lamentations.

"Why to disguise as Doujima, of all people?" Sakaki wondered.

"Isn't it obvious? Doujima comes late, so Chameleon didn't need to worry about meeting her twin."

"But why did she choose me as a target?" Michael asked. "Especially when Sakaki was the one with the gun."

"Must have seen you working," Kosaka said, sipping his drink. "Probably figured you're our computer genius."

"So?" Michael still couldn't understand.

"Kill a hunter, and there are still three more left, but taking you out would've hampered us for real."

"Are you saying... she was after me from the start?" Michael shivered.

"Not necessarily," Karasuma shook her head. "She was cornered, and maybe you were the target of opportunity."

"So who is this Nagira guy," Kaider asked Karasuma.

"He's using his firm to support seeds and witches. Unofficially, of course."

"That means he's our opposition," Kaider said thoughtfully. "You think he's behind this?"

"No way," Sakaki protested. "He's a good guy who has his own views. He has nothing to do with this madness."

"Still, we've got to talk to him. Ms. Karasuma, could you drive me there?"

"He's a lawyer, and he will tell nothing about his clients," Karasuma said. "Especially to someone he doesn't know. I think I should go alone."

"I'll talk to him," Kaider promised, with a silvery glow in his eyes. "He'll tell me everything."


	8. Curiosity

**Disclaimer: Horst and Karina characters are based on the concept by E. F. Russel. All other characters belong to Sunrise.**

"Remember, Nagira is our friend and by no means a suspect," Karasuma said in her best command voice when the car stopped. "Therefore, you will not hypnotize him into doing or saying anything at all."

"I assure you, I've never intended to do so. You see, mind control isn't too effective at getting information, unless you know exactly what questions to ask."

"Very well. But then, I don't really understand what you are counting upon."

"My personal charm," Kaider smiled and got out of the car.

"Good morning, Ms. Hanamura," Karasuma greeted Nagira's secretary. "Please tell Mr. Nagira I need to talk to him."

"So, you're the good cop and I'm the bad one, okay?" Kaider whispered as the secretary went to inform her boss.

"No, it's not okay," Karasuma hissed. "We'll be honest with him, that's the only chance."

Kaider replied with a skeptical shrug, and then they were invited into Nagira's office.

"Ms. Karasuma, so nice to see you!" Nagira welcomed heartily from his desk. "How are things going at Raven's Flat?"

"Not too well right now," Karasuma admitted. "Actually, that's why I'm here."

"Ah, so this is business," Nagira nodded knowingly. "Is your friend a hunter too?"

"That's right, this is Horst Kaider, our new hunter," Karasuma introduced.

"I heard you're a lawyer with ideals," Kaider commented, his shining eyes staring at the lawyer.

"Well, Mika keeps telling me it's bad for the business," Nagira grinned, motioning them to sit down. "So, what trouble brings you to my place?"

"You know the name Mitsuki Nagumo?" Karasuma started.

"Hm, let me see," Nagira produced some papers and looked through them quickly. "That's right, she is my client."

"Have you got so many clients you can't learn their names?" Karasuma raised her eyebrow.

"Lots of them lately indeed," Nagira agreed proudly. "What about Ms. Nagumo?"

"She was a witch, and she attempted to kill us less than an hour ago," Karasuma informed him. "She is dead now."

"Jesus!" Nagira gasped. "I... I didn't know about it, Ms. Karasuma, I swear. Anyone else got hurt?"

"No, we're all fine, fortunately. But we need you to tell everything you know about her."

Nagira leaned back in his chair and thought for several seconds.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Karasuma. I do not give away information about my clients. Even if they're dead."

"Maybe you haven't heard me," Karasuma snapped. "She was shooting at us. Michael would've been killed if not for Kaider's reaction!"

"Look, I'm not saying I'll do nothing about it. I'll conduct my own investigation, and I'll find out how she managed to find you and what grudge she had against you. But you must understand, I can tell you nothing. I do have my ideals, like Mr. Kaider pointed out."

"Well, I must say I expected you to say that," Karasuma sighed. "But we still wanted to try. No offense."

"None taken," Nagira smiled, glad that they could still stay friends.

"Come on, we're done here," she stood up, but companion, who hadn't got to say a word during the interview, stayed in place.

"Ms. Karasuma," he said quietly. "How am I supposed to learn the investigative part of our job if you don't let me ask a single question?"

"Why, he has a point, Ms. Karasuma," Nagira laughed. "Let the new guy practice, I really don't mind."

"Mr. Nagira," Kaider addressed the lawyer as Karasuma sat down again, slightly irritated, "tell me about the New Coven."

Nagira failed to conceal his surprise, as the question came absolutely out of nowhere.

"How... where have you heard this?" He asked, glancing over the desk to see if these words were written anywhere on the papers in sight, but no, he couldn't even recall writing them down anywhere at all.

"The witch told us before she died."

It was Karasuma's turn to look surprised now. She opened her mouth to ask something, but Kaider silenced her by kicking her foot under the desk.

"It's... an organization that hires me as a consultant sometimes," Nagira said reluctantly.

"And supplying you with most of your clients, including Ms. Nagumo?"

"No sense denying it, I guess. Anything else she told you?"

"Not much else. Just the address in the Walled City. Well, thank you for giving me an opportunity to practice," Kaider stood up and bowed to the stunned lawyer and turned to the equally stunned hunter. "Ms. Karasuma, shall we go now?"

"You lied to Nagira. Chameleon never had time to tell us anything," Karasuma observed, driving the car back to Raven's Flat. "The New Coven? What's this? Where did you learn this? And how did you know the address?"

"It was all written down on one of his papers."

"But I haven't noticed anything... Not that I really looked, but... I always thought a man like Nagira wouldn't write down something others aren't supposed to see."

"What are you implying?"

Karasuma couldn't answer that, as she didn't really know what she was implying. She was driving in silence for a minute, then another question popped into her mind.

"How did you know what the New Coven is all about? How did you know it had something to do with our case? It couldn't all be written down!"

"Intuition," Kaider shrugged.

"Guess it's the same intuition that told you to hit Doujima in the face earlier today."

They were already approaching Raven's Flat when Karasuma decided that she shouldn't suspect a successful hunter of something she couldn't even point her finger at.

"You're doing great, Kaider. Keep it up, and you'll aspire to the leader position in no time."

"Thank you, Ms. Karasuma, but I don't plan to make a career as a hunter."

"Huh? What are you saying?"

"I only became a hunter to get a chance to inspect your... activities from within. I never wanted to devote my entire life to the job."

"Unbelievable," Karasuma gasped. "That's one hell of a curiosity. And what are you going to do when you're done... inspecting?"

"Travel," Kaider replied simply. "All around the world."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

**Two months ago**

"A very interesting machine you have here," Kaider pointed out, ignoring the rune passed to him. "How does it work?"

"Oh, I assure you that it's just a secondary device, no matter how threatening it looks. I'm the one who's making decisions here."

"Looks like it's blocking my abilities here," Kaider kept staring at the apparatus. "Amazing..."

"By the way, what kind of power do you have, Mr. Kaider?" Inquisitor Koushon asked. He was supposed to know that in advance, but this inquisition was by no means usual.

"Telepathy, and some other... small things. That's how I've discovered the existence of your organization, whatever it is. You're quite good at keeping secrets, but there are always traces, you know. Strange things happening that occasionally get on the news, rumour here, thoughts there..."

"I must admit, the situation is quite unique. No craft user has ever come to us on his own accord, and we're quite surprised to see a... volunteer like yourself."

"Let's say I consider myself a very responsible person, and I am willing to put my power to good use."

Kaider seemed relaxed somewhat, and that was not a good thing for the inquisition's purposes.

"Yes, I can see you've been using it quite deliberately so far," Koushon saw an opportunity to restore control of the situation. "Isn't it fun to know what everyone around you is thinking about? Discover their most sacred secrets?"

This was what inquisition was all about - forcing the dark side lurking in the subject's mind to show itself, then watch how he handles it.

"It's not all that easy with the secrets, unfortunately. I can only read one's current thoughts, and some recent memories if I try hard. And main secrets are usually kept deep in one's mind. Real deep."

"Still, you must be feeling a bit godlike with such power," Koushon tried again. "It gives you something no one else has. Maybe that's why you came to us, Horst? To make sure there's no other person in the world with power rivaling yours?"

"I'm afraid you're completely wrong here, Inquisitor. My power is nothing but a tool for me, and the only thing I'm looking for in others minds is information neccessary for achieving my goals."

"Which are?"

"The reason I came to you - it's a shame to waste such power without purpose. I figured you will be able to find it a good use. Was I right?"

Koushon hadn't turned the machine off until his people reported the subject driving his car out of sight. This one had spooked Inquisitor somewhat, and that hadn't happened often in the job. It was not just the man's boldness. Horst Kaider just couldn't be the craft user whose powers had awakened several months ago. For some reason, he was taking his powers as something totally natural... as if he'd been born with it...


End file.
